Two late goals earned Moroka Swallows a morale boosting 2-0 win over Maritzburg United in their PSL clash played at the Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the second half. Birds lost defender Ashraf Hendricks and United had striker Norman Smith sent off.

South African under-20 star Sibusiso Khumalo netted the first goal in the 79th minute and 10 minutes later David Radebe headed home goal number two to give the Birds a much needed win ahead of their Soweto derby against Kaizer Chiefs at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night.

But while Khumalo did brilliantly to break the deadlock, he missed a great chance early in the first half when he created Swallows' one real chance in that period.

It came in the seventh minute when Khumalo opted to go for glory instead of laying off the ball to a better placed teammate and the result was he scuffed his shot which went wide.

Hendricks was sent off in the 72nd minute after a second bookable offence on the same opponent. He was lucky not to get an earlier red card when he crash tackled Noah Chivuta in the 24th minute.

Hendricks' kamikaze tackle was dangerous and fortunately Chivuta managed to evade the worst of it.

Had Hendricks connected, the Zambian international could have suffered a serious leg injury and a yellow card was a light punishment.

But then Hendricks decided to rough up Chivuta again and this time he got a second yellow card and an automatic red card which means he will miss the next two matches through suspension including Wednesday's clash against Chiefs.

United were reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute when Smith was sent off for what looked a soft dismissal when he appeared to push midfielder Morgan Shivambu.

Shivambu made a meal of the 'soft slap' in the face.

Hendricks was the hero in the 32nd minute when he did well to cut out a dangerous cross into his penalty area from Rudolph Bester.

Had the big central defender not cleared the ball, Smith would have had an open goal at which to aim.

Seconds later, Bester beat two defenders and unleashed a powerful shot which flew just wide.

But the miss of the day came in the 36th minute when United's Nigerian midfielder Felix Obada missed a sitter from close range.

Obada collected a pass from Smith and, with only goalkeeper Greg Etafia to beat, Obada showed no composure, panicked and shot wide of the target when it looked easier to score than miss.

Chivuta missed a chance to break the deadlock when he rushed his shot in the 50th minute.

A brave save at the feet of Bester from Etafia denied the Namibian international a chance of scoring in the 59th minute.

But Khumalo showed his talent and embarrassed keeper Tashrique Goldman by beating him with a hard shot at the near post in the 79th minute to make it 1-0. Then veteran Radebe headed home substitute Ryan Botha's corner to give Birds their much needed three points and a move up the table.

Football365.com